She’s right. I’ll know when I confront him with the truth.
25
WILLIE BOY
SIMONE
Simone spent the day at ALPHA HQ. She was being hailed a hero, but she didn’t feel like one. She was relieved the case had been solved, but deeply troubled about Dante’s Day of Destruction.
After spending the morning in a debriefing with Dakota, Providence, and Cooper, Slash whisked her into the conference room where the female Ops waited to officially welcome her to the team.
After Slash made the introductions to—Emerson, Danielle, Addison, Jacqueline, and Brit—they feasted on carry-out from a nearby restaurant. They wanted to hear every detail of the case, then they toasted her.
“We’re thrilled to be back here,” Slash said.
“I loved working from home,” Addison said, “but I missed my ALPHA team so much.”
“Especially my ALPHA girls,” Brit added. “I’m all about the girl power.”
An echo of agreement filled the room.
“Red, do you think you’ll be assigned lead for the Day of Destruction case?” Danielle asked.
Simone shrugged. “I think fresh eyes need to run with this one, but if leadership puts a team together, I’d love in on that.”
“We should suggest it,” Jacqueline added.
While the team cleaned up the conference room, Slash said, “You’re sharing an office with me.”
Simone smiled. “I love that.”
Slash slung an arm around her. “Makes me happy too.”
Once there, Simone pulled out her laptop, plugged it into the large display on her desk. “It’ll be great bouncing ideas off you.”
“Same,” Slash said. “It’s gonna take me a while to get used to seeing you. It’s good to have you back, Red.”
“It’s good to be back.”
Her phone buzzed with a text from Luciano.
How’s my love’s first day going?
Great. Are you at work?
All day. One more stop before I see my baby. Love you Simone.
Love you Luciano
Cooper had assigned her a heavy case load, so she spent the afternoon reading through the files.
At the end of the workday, Slash said, “I’ll see you for Thanksgivingandfor Friendsgiving.”
Simone peered over at her. “Friendsgiving?”
“Saturday, everyone’s getting together at Jericho Road.”
“Luciano hasn’t invited me,” Simone said.
